2022 finalist Zhang Shuai out in 1st round at Birmingham Classic as seeds tumble

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Zhang Shuai of China was a finalist at the Birmingham Classic in 2022 but was eliminated in the first round of the grass-court tournament this year as one of four seeded players to go out. The seventh-seeded Zhang was beaten 6-4, 6-3 by 150th-ranked Emina Bektas of the United States in a little over an hour in a big surprise at the WTA event. Zhang reached the 2022 final only to retire because of injury in the first set to hand Beatriz Haddad Maia the title. Third-seeded Magda Linette of Poland, fifth-seeded Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine and sixth-seeded Bernarda Pera of the United States all lost in the second round. Top-seeded Barbora Krejcikova advanced from the first round.